Law of the Jhungle

Raise a glass for one of India’s best-known investors

ALTHOUGH newspapers sometimes call him India’s Warren Buffett, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala does not subscribe to the Midwesterner’s diet of Cherry Coke and banana cream pie. On offer on a Friday evening at his trading desk in Nariman Point, Mumbai’s financial district, are plenty of smokes, salty popcorn, beer and a bottle of scotch. These are consumed in the presence of five price screens, one with scrolling news on US payroll figures; two BlackBerries; a landline that rings with regular updates on the copper price; and a spittoon. The office has a gym but Mr Jhunjhunwala, a big riot of a man, says he doesn’t use it. Geoffrey’s, a bar for stockmarket types, is where he does his workouts.

Mr Jhunjhunwala is 52 years old and has been trading since his teens. According to Forbes magazine, he is worth $1.1 billion; the man himself says that figure is about right. Bloomberg puts his and his wife’s publicly-listed holdings at about $800m. Big sums, but some in Mumbai are snooty about Mr Jhunjhunwala. He is an old-school stockmarket operator, a remnant of the Wild West days of the 1990s, they say. He can turn the charm on and off. You never know what his agenda is—he uses derivatives to disguise his positions. He’s just a punter.

Yet the facts suggest a different view of his investment record. Mr Jhunjhunwala says almost all his wealth is tied up in long-term positions. Official disclosures back this up. His holdings in Crisil, a credit-ratings agency, and Titan, a watchmaker and jeweller, are worth almost half a billion dollars. Annual reports confirm Mr Jhunjhunwala took positions in these firms at least a decade or so ago. They are two of the best-performing companies in India, having risen by 70 and 120 times respectively since 2001.

Luck or genius? Mr Jhunjhunwala does do his own research: on one of his screens he has a sober presentation on strategy he gave recently to a big firm. But he admits mistakes and says that he often invests on instinct first, and analyses later. His real insight may have been to be bullish on India a decade ago and to have favoured good-quality companies.

Optimism about India seems to come naturally. In his early days as an investment celebrity he would appear as a pundit on television shows and roar at his fellow panellists for being too cynical. Today he is still bullish. “Growth comes from chaos, not order,” he says. Although concerns about an economic slowdown are real, “you have to have confidence that in time this will pass.”

Success has brought glamour. He has attracted a spoof blog. For his 50th birthday he flew 250 of his closest friends to Mauritius. A film of the party shows India’s rich and famous dancing to thumping music in a pool.

Yet both great riches and fame are transitory, says Mr Jhunjhunwala.“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the money, but that’s not what motivates me.” So what does make him tick? “The thrill of being proved right.”